Before I get to the review I just wanted to let everyone know I don't typically write reviews for books I love. The reason being, I'm not good at writing worth-while and positive reviews (as opposed to my uncanny ability to write crazy rants about books I totally loathe). Or rather, I know I'm not up to the task: writing a review worthy of a book so beautiful, so eloquently written I can't stop thinking about it long after I've finished it.

I know there is nothing I could say that could not be b More...

I have to confess something before I write this review. This book is about a teenager, Sam, who is a Mean Girl who trips into Groundhog Day world and is set on a path to redemption. My confession is that I used to be a girl almost exactly like Sam.

Shallow, egotistical and worst of all - mean. Really, really mean.

I've commented before on the fact that I was a terrible teenager. My parents did not so much try to raise me through these years. More like they tried to survive me as you would a hurri More...

I am in awe of this author’s talent. I hated this book, and loved it. It’s cruel, and frustrating, unfair, and yet it’s also sad, and hopeful, and honest and authentic. I’m not sure how everyone else feels about their High School experience, but I despised mine. You couldn’t pay me to go back. However, this story was so vivid, that I felt as though I could smell the grease from the cafeteria, feel the rough tile on the bathroom floor and the chill of that cold fateful night. I even cringed at th More...

I had high expectations for this book for 2 reasons: 1. I loved Delirium, it's one of my favorite series and 2. so many people raved about Before I fall , saying it is the best of Oliver's work. I couldn't disagree more. At the beginning I couldn't get into the story, it was a bit repetitive, so I had to put it down and read something else in the meantime. In the end I was getting a bit frustrated as I couldn't understand the whole idea of the book. Having finished it yesterday I've been thinkin More...

Reading through Sam's last day of life, I was transported back to high school with those girls who were shallow, self-centered, and unaware and thought they were cool and better than everyone else because they were shallow, self-centered, and unaware. I felt emotions I had not experienced in years, emotions I had long forgotten. Oliver captures that teenage-centric narcissism so vividly, so much more intently than I ever understood in high school, that I couldn't help but hate Sam and feel some More...

I have no idea how to rate this book. I would say 5 stars to author Lauren Oliver in taking juveniles with a blatant disregard for humanity and turning it into the story of Sam who discovers the importance of humanity. Some of the thoughts that Sam would think as she would pass from one day to the next were beautifully thoughtful causing you to question how you treat and respect the people and things we have. How do we (ourselves) treat individual people? How much affect do we have on the world More...

Reviewed by Laura for Book Chick City. Rating 7/10 on the blog.

When I first started reading 'Before I Fall' it reminded me a little bit of a cross between the films 'Groundhog Day & 'Mean Girls'.

At the beginning, I didn't like Sam very much at all. She was one of those girls at schoolwho was more concerned about appearances than substance, and her friends were equally as shallow. They were more obsessed with how many red roses they would get on Cupid's Day, as a show of their popularity, tha More...

I'd heard from quite a few people that this book was pretty good...

That may be the most OUTRAGEOUS understatement of all time.

'Pretty good' doesn't explain the embarrassing amount of tears that poured out of me.

'Pretty good' doesn't touch on Lauren Oliver's incredible way with words and imagery.

'Pretty good' doesn't describe the range of conflicting emotions the story sparked in me.

And 'Pretty good' certainly doesn't account for the fact that, once I finished the final page, I literally threw t More...

WOW.

That would be my one word review for this book... WOW.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up, and to say that I was utterly unprepared for it's magnificence, would be an understatement. This book evoked such strong emotion. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was bawling by the end of the story. For me, the stories that awaken your emotions are always the most powerful and memorable. And I don't read many books like that, so when I do, it tends to really stand out.

What's so in More...

This is a hard book to rate. It’s in a whole different realm and I’m not sure what to do. It’s special. Not like in a good or bad way, but in a way that it’s different. You can’t compare it to anything else because…it isn’t like anything else. Yeah, I know I’m making a lot of sense. One thing that this does is make you feel and it makes you think.

Quick Overview: Samantha Kingston has everything a girl could want. She’s popular, has a hunky popular boyfriend, great friends, and there seems to be More...

Goodreads Exclusive Prelude: If you have not read this, or given it at least four-and-a-half stars, you have no soul.

Oh . . . Oh, my God . . .

Five stars. Five billion stars. Five quadrillion stars. Five infinity stars.

I don't think I'll ever read a book that'll touch me in quite the same way.

A lot of Goodreadsers didn't like Before I Fall because they couldn't relate to it at all and the characters didn't relate to them. Before I Fall did relate to me because the main character, Samantha Kingsto More...

I went into this book rather anxiously--as many glowing reviews as it had received, I was pretty certain that reading about the same day over and over and over again was going to be a total drag. And boy, was I wrong or what?

First up I'm going to have to mention Lauren Oliver's STUNNING writing. It pretty much makes me want to give up writing, but at the same time makes me aspire to be a better one (if that makes any sense at all). The metaphors she constructs are absolutely beautiful, and even More...

You can read more reviews at my blog, The Armchair Librarian!

I am in bed right now sobbing the way I did when I read The Fault in Our Stars, or when the wife in Up died, or when my sweet little kitty had to be put down, and I'm not even ashamed.

Before I Fall is one of the most beautiful stories I've read in a while. Everything about it, from concept to characterization, is perfect. It's hard to write a flawed protagonist and still make her likable, but Oliver does, and I found myself wanting to More...

The author is young, not far from being a teen herself which probably accounts for her acute recall of the kind of behavior she explores in her book. She does it so well that the pages turn themselves. I am a senior citizen and my high school days came flooding back with memories of the "mean" girls in my school, although "mean" and/or popular girls then, were vastly different from their counterparts today. Today, the bullying behavior is more apparent, at even younger ages, for boys and girls. More...

Proper, coherent review coming soon. Lauren Oliver is amazingly thoughtful and sweet and BEFORE I FALL is beautiful.



That is a signed French copy of BEFORE I FALL, and it has a note in it. A note that almost, almost, almooooost brought tears to my eyes, before I realized that would be really creepy and stopped. My father found Lauren at a book signing in Paris and she sort of knew me from the billion tweets I sent her. I am also not going to tell you what the note says, either. Sorry. :D

SQUEEAAA More...

After reading Delirium (one of my favorite novels of the year) I'd been excited to read more from Lauren Oliver, but perhaps my expectations were too high. Repetition is a major theme as Samantha, the main character, loops through time to "relive" (so to say) her last day on Earth, but I thought her musings to be repetitive drudgery and found myself counting the days, literally.

Maybe this feeling of going around in circles is because I've read this book before. I'm pretty sure I've seen the mov More...

(Note: I'm writing this review at 3 a.m., so my thoughts are a little disjointed. I am still digesting the book because sometimes it just wasn't easy to swallow or stomach. But it was worth it.)

Phew.

Those five stars were well-earned. Want to know why? My experience with Before I Fall was very rocky. Most times, I wanted to put down the book in frustration and walk away, but all the glowing reviews whispered in my ear, "Keep on reading. There's a good story here. Just wait." And you know what? T More...

Initial reaction:
Wow. Just wow.

Full review:
Every so often you read a book that just resonates with you, a book that reaches deep down to your soul and rips it to shreds. For me this was one of those books. I rarely rate books five stars, but I couldn't give this one anything less.

Before I fall is the story of Samantha Kingston, one of the popular girls at her high school, who seems to have it all until she's involved in a tragic accident. Except instead of dying, Samantha is forced to relive h More...

Every now and then a book will come along that reminds me of the fine line between a favorite book and one that is just a great read. Sometimes I struggle with what shelves to place a book on when I’m done with it. Was it a favorite? I mean, it was so good, it must be, right? That’s not true though, is it? Before I Fall reminded me that the books that become your favorites are so much more than great, engaging and well written reads. They are the books that hold on to you long after you set them More...

WOW. JUST WOW.

When I first found this book on GoodReads,I loved the plot. It's so original and nothing like I've ever read. So yeah,I decided to buy this book and I did.

I had high expectations for this book because of the hype,which was big about this book. So the book lived up to my expectations and maybe excedded them too.

Lauren Oliver's writing is amazing. I absolutely love the way she describes people/situations and things. Her writing is poetic. There were also many great and meaningful quo More...

Having heard numerous incredible reviews on this novel, I have finally jumped the this bandwagon and checked out what it was all about. Not disappointed in the least, this is one (rare) instance where my expectations has lived up to the hype. Before I Fall is a moving story of a girl who died, but she gets a second chance to make things right.

Samantha Kingston is the type of girl you either hate, or you're jealous of, in high school. She's pretty, popular, dating the hottest guy in school, and s More...

Lindsey doesn't budge. "Lost it. Flipped your lid. Gone bat shit. Since when do you bring Anna Cartullo presents?"

Sam Kingston
Sam was a stubborn, stuck up, snobby little shit. The only bit I liked about her was when they replayed Ken replayed the story about what happened with her and a guy named Phil in secondary school.
(view spoiler)["'Remember the time in second grade right after my grandfather died?' he says finally, speaking a low, quiet voice. 'I burst into tears in the lunchroom and Phil Howell called m (hide spoiler)]

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You know when you find a book that's so amazing you just want to pick it up and read it over and over again? Before I Fall is one of those books. I've already read this one twice, so I don't exactly have the big urge to rave about it to anyone and everyone anymore (I did the first time I read it. Unfortunately, I didn't have a blog at the time), but its almost as if I've come to think of this one as a classic. Its like when you find out someone has no clue what Romeo and Juliet is, your like wha More...

I love Lauren Oliver. After I read Delirium (that I absolutely fell in love with) I wanted to read this. At first I was hesitant. But then I loved it. Lauren Oliver's writing is beautiful. This book gives you so much food for thought. The beggining was a little bit slow, but then the plot picks up leading into a heartbreaking conclusion.

It talks about so many things. Grief, loss, but most important of all death. When you are finished the only thing you can do is to lay down and think about it.
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Totally unexpected but I loved loved this book! I did not know what this book was about before I picked it up but I decided to give it a try and at first I thought O this is going to be boring but how wrong I was. I do not know how she does it but she made Sam experiencing the same day so interesting and not boring at all. I could relate to each character which does not happen much and had a hard time to put this book down. Actually I am a bit sad now that I've finished it. I am not good in writ More...

Ok this is a bit of an odd review. The first 2/3 of the book was painful. I don't think it was really bad writting, it was simply because I absolutely LOATHED the characters. If I knew people like that in real life I would probably punch them in the face after oh half an hour at the most and thats with me overestimating my selfrestraint. So now that we established that its just awful thanks to the characters I need to point out the ending was fantastic. I'm not going to say it wasn't predicatabl More...

I remember when I finished this book, I was sitting on my bed, hugging my knees to my chest, completely lost in thought; not really in shock but my mind was definitely working full speed.

I didn’t feel heartbroken with this book, I knew what I was getting into, the summary says it all. There's also the fact that the subject is not uncommon, there are movies with this sort of theme, like the one with Sandra Bullock – Can’t remember the name of the movie – What made this book so great and set it ap More...

I received this as an ARC from Barnes and Noble, and I'm so glad I did! It's not one I would have chosen off the shelf; I would have waited for several reviews from friends... but it was FANTASTIC.

I have to echo the note I received from the publisher with the book - I can't believe I hated the protagonist so much at the beginning and loved her so much at the end. Oliver's writing is really beautiful, and even though the plot is about a girl who relives her dying day six times, she ties a lot of More...

Before I Fall is everything a novel should be. It is moving, inspiring, romantic, frustrating, heartbreakingly sad, and yet incredibly optimistic. Samantha might just be the most real girl I've ever read about in a YA novel, and I couldn't help but love her despite, or maybe because of, all her faults. Her actions are always very believable, if she's hanging out with her little sister or making fun of someone in the school cafeteria, and the amount she develops in just one week is nothing short More...